North Australia is dominated by natural hazards, and populated by less than 360,000 people living in communities of varying degrees of remoteness from ‘outer regional’ to ‘very remote’. Their capabilities to manage bushfires and natural hazards (BNH) are restricted by poor infrastructure and limited human capital - especially in Indigenous communities.  Low population densities and poor communications mean that even relatively large communities have almost no formal emergency management capacity.  There is no “Plan B”. 

Natural hazards are being amplified by climate change, with likely more and bigger fires, on-going sea level rise, more destructive cyclones and more days of severe heat stress, with consequent risks to economic productivity, infrastructure and human health and wellbeing.  Improving community resilience to bushfire and natural hazards in the north is a high priority, but approaches that might apply in southern Australia are unlikely to work in the unique demographic, ecological and climatic context of the northern third of the continent.

This paper will explore potential pathways to improve community preparedness, response and recovery capabilities in remote communities, and broader implications for public policy and government agencies in northern Australia, with reference to the research portfolio being developed in the northern hub of the BNHCRC.  The relevance of such ideas in neighbouring countries to our north will also be discussed.